Automatic sprinkler-valve.



L. A. GRIMES.

AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER VALVE. APPLICATION FILED FEB.17, 1912.

WITNESSES INVENTOR JTTOR/VEYS cDLUMBIA l-LANOURAPH C0,, wAsmNu'mN, D. c.

Patented Nov. 26, 1912. v

LESTER A. GRIMES, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER-VALVE.

weaver.

Application filed February 17, 1912.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LESTER A. GnIMEs, a citizen of the United States,and a residentof the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in thecounty of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and ImprovedAutomatic Sprinkler-Valve, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

My invent-ion relates to an automatic sprinkler valve of the generalclass where a water outlet is opened when subjected to the influence ofabnormal temperature. As in other devices of this character, theoperation depends upon the fusing or melting of some fusible metal, butin the devices now.

on the market, the separation of the metals held by the fusible soldertakes place either in a V movement, a sliding movement, or a combinationof these two movements; that is, the two separating parts move at anangle one to the other, so that the holding power of the solder iseffective only along a single line, and in those devices where thesoldered parts slowly separate by sliding relatively to each other inparallel planes, the effective holding power is limited to the partsremaining in contact. As these separating members are always under moreor less tension, a slow cold flow is apt to take place, and eventuallythe valve is opened at normal room temperature.

It is an object of my invention to eliminate the possibility of thiscold flow, by constructing the two parts so as to separate bodily onefrom the other and thereby utilize the whole area of adhesion affordedby the soft solder.

I attain the above-outlined object by mounting two L-shaped members witha leg of each fastened to a leg of the other by a soft solder andforming a toe on the lower edge of the outer of said legs, to preventsaid legs from movement in a plane parallel to themselves until they areentirely separated bodily.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures, and in which Figure 1 is a frontelevation of a preferred embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 is avertical transverse sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 andlooking in the direction of the arrow; and Fig. 3 is an Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented Nov. 26, 1912.

Serial No. 678,301.

enlarged detail elevation showing the contacting members.

Described more in detail, I have shown a threaded nozzle 4 having a bore5, the outlet to which bore is closed by a cap 6, having a conical head7. Integral with the noz zle 4 and extending above the end thereof. is asupporting ring 8, the upper end of which, and diametrically disposedrelative to the bore of the nozzle 1, is a screw-threaded boss 9, intowhich boss is adapted to be screwed a deflector 10 held in adjustedposition by means of a binding screw 11 coopcrating with the shank 12,the end 13 of which is formed into a conical round-end nose similar inconfiguration to the head 7, all as is common in constructions of thischaracter.

Disposed between the end 13 and head 7, is a collapsible frame 14, moreparticularly forming the subject-matter of my invention. This framecomprises an upper L-shaped member comprising a plate 15 having a recess16 centrally disposed in its outer face, adjacent one end. The oppositeend of the member is turned downward, to form an angularly disposed legor plate 17 the free end of which is turned back parallel to the plate15, to form a toe 18. Resting on the head 7 is a lower L-shaped membercomprising a plate 19 similar in construction to the plate 15, and a leg20 which normally extends parallel to the leg 17 resting on the toe 18.and held to the leg 17 by means of a comparatively weak and readilyfusible solder 21. A strut 22 slightly inclined from the vertical, hasits upper edge inserted in a slot 23 disposed on the under side of theplate 15 and inset some material distance from the recess 16 toward theleg 17. The lower edge of the strut 22 is disposed in a slot 241 in theupper side of the plate 19, but much nearer the head 7 than the slot 23is to the recess 16.

The L-shaped members and strut 22 are made, preferably, of brass, but itis, of course, to be understood that any suitable strong andsubstantially rigid material may be substituted for the brass. It willbe noted, furthermore, that these three principal parts of thecollapsible frame are so constructed that normally each of them is indirect contact with the other two, whereby the strain on the frame islargely borne by said parts instead of by the solder.

With the several parts in the position shown in Fig. 2, the deflector 10is rotated until a predetermined pressure is placed on the plate 15, orany pressure may be placed upon this member, provided the pressure isnot suflicient to overcome the adhesion of the solder 21 connecting thelegs 17 and 20 and normally preventing their bodily separation.

Heating the frame lt to a temperature sufiicient to melt the solder orother adhesive 21, the pressure on the member 15 would act on thismember as if it were a lever having a fulcrum formed by the upper edgeof the strut 22, thereby tending to raise the leg 17 relative to the leg20, but the latter cannot slide in the plane of the former, due to theinterlocking contact be tween the toe 18 and the shoulder connecting theplate 19 and leg 20, so that any movement between these legs must takeplace at right angles to the plane of the same, thereby causing the legs20 and 17 to separate bodily or at all points with equal speeds. Inother words, the frame will remain intact until practically all of thesolder is melted, or until the tensile strength of the solder, tendingto resist direct bodily separation of the legs, is overcome. Vhile thestrut 22 sustains the major portion of the direct thrust between thepoints 13 and 7, the inclination thereof insures the release of the toe18 from contact with the plate 19, when all of the solder is melted, byvirtue .of the tendency of the strut to swing around the point 24- as acenter, while the parts 15 and 19 swing upwardly in substantialparallelism on the respective points 13 and 7 As soon as the leg 20escapes from the toe 18, the pressure on the plate 15 will cause thismember to spring upward and the plate 19 to spring downward, permittingthe strut 22 to escape from its holding slots. The water pressure raisesthe cap 6, thereby permitting the discharge of the water.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. In an automatic sprinkler valve, means for maintaining said valve inclosed position, said means comprising a frame including two L-shapedmembers, one of said members having a toe in the free end of one legthereof, adapted to support the other member, and fusible solderdisposed between said members.

2. An automatic sprinkler valve compris ing a nozzle, a cap adapted toclose said nozzle, a pressure-forming member disposed above said cap, acollapsible frame disposed between said member and said cap to hold saidcap on said nozzle, said frame comprising two parallel members, a strutdisposed between said parallel members and at an angle to the directionof pressure of said pressure-forming member, the top edge of said strutbeing materially offset from the direction of pressure and a fusibleconnection between said parallel members normally maintaining saidmembers in position.

3. A collapsible frame for use in auto matic sprinkler valves,comprising three members, one of said members being L shaped and havingan inturned toe at one end thereof, a second L-shaped member resting onsaid. toe, and having one leg thereof in juxtaposition to the leg of thefirst-mentioned member having the toe thereon, and having the other legthereof extending parallel to the other leg of said first-mentionedmember, a. strut inclined to said parallelly disposed legs, and fusiblemeans for retaining said members in position when cold.

4.111 a collapsible frame for automatic sprinkler valves, thecombination of two L- shaped members, each having a leg adjacent thecorresponding leg of the other, one of said legs having a toe in directcontact with the other member to prevent the legs from sliding one overthe other, means to cause bodily separation of said legs to release saidtoe, and fusible metal between said legs normally resisting suchseparation.

In an automatic sprinkler valve, a collapsible frame comprising twospaced members, pressure-applying means tending to collapse said frame,means in the space between said members tending to cause the pressure tomove the members relatively to each other in parallel planes, one ofsaid members having means cooperating with the other member to confinesuch relative movement initially to said parallel planes, and fusiblemetal normally maintaining the frame members from relative movement.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

LESTER A. GRIMES. Witnesses PHILIP D. RoLLHAUs, JOHN P. DAVIS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

